love, martha at Lill Street's Holiday Art Fair! Yay!

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be participating in Lill Street's Inaugural Holiday Art Fair!  It is Friday November 30th from 6 - 10pm.  There will be cocktails, live music, and me!  And a whole bunch of other folks too of course.  I'm busy beading to make some fun necklaces for the holidays, so be sure and drop by if you can!

adventures in beading

Oh, summertime.  The time to have plenty of excuses for ignoring this blog of mine.  I've been relatively productive in the creativity department I suppose.  My latest obsession is beading.  I've done some beading on my necklaces, but it was always a little haphazard and didn't really have any sort of pattern.  I really wanted to create a beaded pattern that was symmetrical and you know, done the right way!  I took inspiration from my trip to Architectural Artifacts last winter, specifically a lovely art deco lamp.  I had sketches in my notebook for ages and then thought, I should probably use them for something worthwhile.   So there you have it.  I think it turned out pretty nice.  Though it's not quite as symmetrical as I would have liked because I'm lazy about measuring things... but for a first attempt, I think it went pretty darn well!  And there will be more to come!  These wooly felt bib necklaces will be lovely for fall and winter!

Fourth of July

Last night, Ben and I went out to the burbs for a Fourth of July celebration!  I guess it has become our tradition, as we've done this for the past three years.  Nothing like a little croquet with some old dudes to celebrate America!  But seriously, croquet is pretty fun.  And as it turns out, I'm not that bad. Hope everyone had a great holiday! 

Kansas

Ben and I just got back from a week long trip to Kansas.  It was super hot and humid, just as I remember!  It had been a really long time since I've been to Kansas in the summer.  Ben always goes to teach his art camp.  This time I decided to go with him and had a great time.  I caught up with my family and just chilled out for a week, mostly inside some amazing air conditioning.  I ate lots of good food while Ben was teaching the kiddos.  I feel refreshed and ready for this hot summer back in Chicago!

delicious treats

We've been having such amazing weather lately that I've felt the need to indulge in a couple of my vices: gin and ice cream.  Not necessarily together of course!  This past weekend we had friends over and we made a classic Tom Collins with a bit of basil.  The next night Ben and I walked to Margie's Candies, which is probably the best place ever.  I had only had things to go up until this weekend.  Next I think I need to go with a few people and share a banana split.  They are seriously insane!  Have you been there?

space cats & jewelry

Well, here it is folks!  I feel bad for the crappy iphone pictures, but my lil bedroom makeover is finished!  It pretty much revolved around the necklaces, but let me tell ya, it had to be done.  Our bedroom is super teeny, so it definitely needed a little love to make it more livable.   Ben and I painted our once dingy light blue walls with a fresh coat of plain white and then I rearranged some of our artwork and hung up my "statement" necklaces.  I heart this space cat print so much.  It was a gift from a lovely lady and the jester type people were from my cousin... don't know where she found them, but I've always had a fondness for them!

new necklaces!

I have a bunch of new necklaces in my shop!  You should go check them out.  I took the photos myself with my iphone.  How weird is that?  Anyhoo, I think they turned out rather nice! See them here!